Carbone
An Italian surname meaning “coal” or “charcoal,” likely first given to someone who made, sold, or worked with it.
The #3,371 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,152 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Carbone comes from Italian carbon(e), “coal” or “charcoal,” from Latin carbo, carbonis, with the same meaning. As a surname, it most likely began as a nickname or occupational name for someone associated with charcoal burning, coal, or a sooty appearance. The same root also lies behind many European words like “carbon.”
History
Carbone is a well-established Italian surname and is especially common in southern Italy and Sicily, though it is found across the Italian diaspora. The surname appears in English-language sources as an immigrant family name, but the 19th-century excerpts provided here do not give a direct etymological analysis of the name itself. In some cases it may have been altered in spelling or pronunciation after migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root in Carbone is also the ancestor of the English word “carbon.”
From the historical record
“to some. Carbines and Carbinis ; but the two latter names may be from car-ennis, the rocky island or peninsula. Cara- bine and Carbone are found as surnames in the United States. CARBURRA. A name mentioned by C. 8. Gilbert in a list of gentlemen who have represented Bodmin. It may be from car-bar, the town on the…”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames